Page 28 of Dima
“It sounds like you called me here to do your job. I’m undercover. You don’t need me for a fucking brief.”
Fitz was technically my superior, but I was never one to bite my tongue. I would talk to anybody the same way if I had to question what position they were putting me in. Fitz had now put me in multiple fucked-up positions.
“They want to know how I knew about the drop and exactly how it went down.”
“I don’t have my drive with me, but I could brief this off the top of my dome. You should be able to do the same.”
“Let’s just get in there, Walker. You’re here now, and what’s done is done.”
I pushed past Fitz and walked into the boardroom ahead of him. It was already filling up, and my uncle sat at the head of the table. Everyone else took seats on each side. I walked to the front of the room to brief my part first.
“First things first, I’ve successfully infiltrated the Durty Boyz organization and in a matter of weeks been invited deeper into the fold by Bishop Moore himself.”
Light claps could be heard around the room. My uncle Atlas wore a proud look on his face as everyone congratulated me on doing something that many believed impossible. However, the look on Fitz’s face remained neutral.
“How did that happen exactly? We hadn’t got a chance to discuss it, but since you brought it up, I’m sure everyone would want to know.”
“I saved his daughter’s life at a club one night. Now I’m the only person he wants to protect her. Any father would have done the same.”
“Good job, Dmitri. Go on to the border meet. The details are a little fuzzy. I would like to know where Fitz got his tip, how things went down, and the reason you failed to call for backup. Failure to call for backup could have resulted in something catastrophic.” Atlas chimed in.
He’d noticed the subtle shade Fitz sent my way and intercepted it. I was grateful because I didn’t want the focus to be on how close Maeve and I had gotten. “Yes, sir. I gave Fitz the tip after I overheard a conversation about using the meet as a smoke screen to cover a drug deal. Since I was still maintaining my cover, I was not with Agent Fitz when he did the bust. If I would have been there, I would have most certainly called for backup, but he decided to pull the mission with local PD.”
Fitz chimed in and gave his account of the events and how the takedown went. He also highlighted what was recovered during the bust and what that meant for this case. We were slowly taking the organization down brick by brick. I was happy with my contribution, but I would be lying if I told myself something didn’t feel off.
“And what about this war that I hear is brewing between the Durty Boyz and the Jack-town JUs. What do you plan to do about that? What protective measures do you have in place for Agent Walker?”
“What war?”
I had tuned out while Fitz spoke because he wasn’t saying shit that mattered to me, but Atlas mentioning a war had my ears open. If the bureau knew about something like that going down, Fitz should have been the first to bring me in on it. This being my first time hearing about it at all worried me.
“Where did you hear that?”
The nervous look on Fitz’s face when he asked Atlas that question told me everything I needed to know. He knew about this war and kept it to himself.
“The question is not where I heard it. The question is, why didn’t I hear it from you?”
“I was going to tell you about it, but honestly, I didn’t think it was a big deal. These gangs say they’re going to war every other day, and nothing ever happens.”
“You didn’t think it was a big deal when you have an agent undercover while two of the most notorious gangs in this city are on the brink of war? Are you incompetent, Agent Fitz?”
“No, sir. The raid on the border meet and the ambush at the courthouse were isolated events. A war behind isolated events couldn’t have been predicted. I thought I could handle this.”
“Well, you thought wrong. I want everything you know on my desk as soon as we leave this meeting. Dmitri, my office. Now.”
My uncle got up and walked out of the room, and I followed him just like he’d told me to. I was now getting the same feeling that he had about Fitz all along. The fact that he wasn’t shedding light on and trying to stop this war spoke volumes.
“What are we going to do to stop this?” was the first thing I asked when we were behind closed doors. I understood my position here. My job was to take down Bishop Moore and everyone who came behind him. But somewhere along the lines, I started to care.
“That’s why I wanted to speak with you in private, son. I need to pull you out. It’s too late to stop this war. Whatever is going to happen has already been set in motion. My only play is to take you off the case and try to stop as much as I can.”
“What? You can’t do that. If you pull me out now, there’ll be no one on the inside.”
If the bureau didn’t intervene fast enough, a lot of lives would be lost. Innocent lives. Maeve’s life. There was no way I would walk away now.
“Listen to me, Dmitri. I won’t tell you what to do because you won’t listen anyway. What I am going to say is, if you go back in now, it will be against my orders, and I may not be able to help you when the odds are stacked against you. Do you understand me?”
“I understand. But I can’t back out now.”
